System and Method for Providing Conditional Access to Virtual Gaming Items

ABSTRACT

The present specification describes a system and method for providing conditional access to a virtual gaming item possessed by a first player of a video game to a second player. The method includes: creating a database of conditionally accessible virtual items, wherein said accessibility is determined based on at least one predefined condition; modifying an attribute of the virtual item for making the second player aware that said item is available for conditional access for a predefined period of time; fulfilling, by the second player, at least one access condition; and providing accessibility to the item to the second player for the predefined period of time.

CROSS-REFERENCE

The present specification relies on, for priority, U.S. Patent Provisional Application No. 62/933,209 titled “System and Method For Providing Conditional Access to Virtual Gaming Items”, filed on Nov. 8, 2019, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The present specification is related generally to the field of gaming, animation and computer graphics. More specifically, the present specification discloses systems and methods for providing conditional accessibility of in-game virtual items to players.

BACKGROUND

The proliferation of reliable and affordable broadband services allows for a greater number of people to enjoy computer or video games of various genres. For example, in some computer games, players conquer territories or complete other missions for ever-increasing rewards. In many role-playing games (RPG) or first-person shooter (FPS) games, each player controls the actions of at least one character. In addition, players develop unique characters and by controlling the actions of the characters they create during gameplay, the players (via their characters) accumulate various in-game objects and abilities through extended play. The rules for how quickly, how many and what type of in-game abilities and objects a character may earn or gain usually involves several ratings or statistics. These ratings determine the outcome of various chance or future events that lead to new in-game objects and abilities.

In most of the currently available video games, players have the option to either acquire or earn through gameplay, in-game items (such as objects or abilities) permanently tied to their gaming account. Examples of these items include, but are not limited to, weapon skins, character outfits, and character dances. In various games, a player's success in gameplay is determined by the number of in-game objects and abilities gathered by the player. In some other games, a player may be required to obtain one or more predefined in-game objects and abilities to be able to progress further in the game. Some of these in-game items may be difficult to obtain either due to their limited availability or because the process of obtaining said items requires a high level of skill in game-play. The rarity of said in-game items may vary and may be classified accordingly. In some formats, the in-game items may be classified as “common”, “rare”, “epic”, or “legendary”, in order of increasing rarity.

In some cases, a player of a video game may be in possession of one or more in-game items, but may not be using said items during game-play. Some of these items may be ‘rare’ and difficult to obtain and may be sought after by other players of said game. Access to these in-game items lying unused in a first player's gaming inventory may improve the gameplay experience for a second player who does not possess said items.

Hence, there is need for a method through which unused gaming inventory items of one player may be made conditionally or selectively accessible, upon fulfillment of one or more predefined conditions, to a second player for improving the gameplay experience of the second player. There is also a need for managed data structures that can effectively track and associate inventory items with specific players and to provide selective, controlled, and/or conditional access to the same inventory items to other players who may not have attain those inventory items through standard gameplay.

SUMMARY

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described and illustrated in conjunction with systems, tools and methods, which are meant to be exemplary and illustrative, and not limiting in scope. The present application discloses numerous embodiments.

In some embodiments, the present specification is directed towards a method for providing conditional access to a virtual gaming item that is allocated to a first player of a video game, wherein the video game provides conditional access to the virtual gaming item to a second player, the method comprising: generating a data set of conditionally accessible virtual video game items in a form of an electronically stored data structure, wherein the conditionally accessible virtual video game items include the virtual gaming item; using the data structure, logically associating at least one predefined condition with each of the virtual video game items; generating a plurality of graphical user interfaces in the video game, wherein at least one of the plurality of graphical user interfaces is configured to prompt for, and receive, data representative of one or more attributes of each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items and wherein the one or more attributes are at least indicative of one or more predefined periods of time for which each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items is conditionally accessible; monitoring data generated by an execution of the video game to determine if the at least one predefined condition for the virtual gaming item is met by the second player; based on data generated by the execution of the video game and representative of the at least one predefined condition being met by the second player, at least temporarily providing access to the virtual gaming item to the second player within the video game and at least temporarily denying access to virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game; and after the one or more predefined periods of time elapses, providing access to the virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game and denying access to the second player within the video game.

Optionally, the method further comprises notifying the first player that the virtual item is being made accessible to the second player for the one or more predefined periods of time.

Optionally, the method further comprises modifying at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record said conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item and a first time.

Optionally, the method further comprises determining if the one or more predefined periods of time has elapsed by acquiring a current time, determining a difference between the current time and the first time, and terminating conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item for the second player if the difference is equal to or greater than the one or more predefined periods of time.

Optionally, the method further comprises modifying the at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record the termination of the conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item.

Optionally, the method further comprises generating a graphical user interface to notify at least the second player that the virtual gaming item is conditionally available upon fulfillment of the at least one predefined condition.

Optionally, the one or more attributes further comprises at least one of a color of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items or a descriptor of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items.

Optionally, the at least one predefined condition comprises a transfer of a predefined amount of virtual value to the first player by the second player.

Optionally, the at least one predefined condition comprises reaching a predefined gaming level by the second player.

Optionally, the method further comprises determining if a predefined percentage of a total number of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items has been obtained by a total player population playing the video game before enabling the virtual gaming item to be conditionally accessible.

In some embodiments, the present specification is directed toward a computer readable non-transitory medium comprising a plurality of executable programmatic instructions wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, conditional access to a virtual gaming item that is allocated to a first player of a video game is provided to a second player in a multi-player video gaming network, said multi-player video gaming network comprising at least one game server in data communication with client devices of the first player and the second player and wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game: generates a data set of conditionally accessible virtual video game items in a form of an electronically stored data structure, wherein the conditionally accessible virtual video game items include the virtual gaming item; logically associates at least one predefined condition with each of the virtual video game items in the data structure; generates a plurality of graphical user interfaces, wherein at least one of the plurality of graphical user interfaces is configured to prompt for, and receive, data representative of one or more attributes of each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items and wherein the one or more attributes are at least indicative of one or more predefined periods of time for which each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items is conditionally accessible; monitors data generated by an execution of the video game to determine if the at least one predefined condition for the virtual gaming item is met by the second player; based on data generated by the execution of the video game and representative of the at least one predefined condition being met by the second player, at least temporarily provide access to the virtual gaming item to the second player within the video game and at least temporarily deny access to virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game; and after the one or more predefined periods of time elapses, provide access to the virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game and deny access to the second player within the video game.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further notifies the first player that the virtual item is being made accessible to the second player for the one or more predefined periods of time.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further modifies at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record said conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item and a first time.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further determines if the one or more predefined periods of time has elapsed by acquiring a current time, determining a difference between the current time and the first time, and terminating conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item for the second player if the difference is equal to or greater than the one or more predefined periods of time.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further modifies the at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record the termination of the conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further generates a graphical user interface to notify at least the second player that the virtual gaming item is conditionally available upon fulfillment of the at least one predefined condition.

Optionally, the one or more attributes further comprises at least one of a color of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items or a descriptor of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items.

Optionally, the at least one predefined condition comprises a transfer of a predefined amount of virtual value to the first player by the second player.

Optionally, the at least one predefined condition comprises reaching a predefined gaming level by the second player.

Optionally, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further determines if a predefined percentage of a total number of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items has been obtained by a total player population playing the video game before enabling the virtual gaming item to be conditionally accessible.

The aforementioned and other embodiments of the present shall be described in greater depth in the drawings and detailed description provided below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages of the present specification will be further appreciated, as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture of a gaming system in which methods of providing players with conditional access to virtual items may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary data structure for managing and tracking ownership and conditional access of in-game virtual items, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating steps for providing conditional access to in-game virtual items to players of a video game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating the steps of making an in-game virtual item in a video game conditionally available to players of the game, in accordance with another embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of designating one or more attributes of an in-game item that may be modified for causing the item to be conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 4B is an exemplary GUI for setting one or more attributes of an in-game item for causing the item to be conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary tabular data structure for recording attributes of in-game virtual items, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of notifying the players of a video game that an in-game virtual item is conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 5B is an exemplary GUI for notifying the players of a video game that at least one in-game virtual item is conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 6A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of setting up rules/triggers for allowing conditional access to the players of a video game of an in-game virtual item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 6B is an exemplary GUI for setting up rules for gaining conditional access to an in-game virtual item by the owner of the item in a video game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of allowing access to an in-game virtual item to one or more players upon fulfillment of one or more predefined conditions, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 7B is an exemplary GUI showing that an in-game item is accessible to a player of a video game who is not the owner of said item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification;

FIG. 8A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of terminating access to an in-game item after expiry of a predefined period, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification; and

FIG. 8B is an exemplary GUI showing that access to an in-game item is terminated for a player of a video game who is not the owner of said item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments the present specification provides players of a video game conditional access to a set of predefined in-game virtual items that may enhance the player's gameplay experience. In an embodiment, a first player possessing a virtual item may make said item conditionally accessible to a second player, wherein the conditional accessibility is determined based on at least one predefined condition.

While aspects of the present specification may be described herein with reference to particular types of video game genres, the system and method described in detail herein may be used in any genre of single or multiplayer video games.

The present specification is directed towards multiple embodiments. The following disclosure is provided in order to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention. Language used in this specification should not be interpreted as a general disavowal of any one specific embodiment or used to limit the claims beyond the meaning of the terms used therein. The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Also, the terminology and phraseology used is for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments and should not be considered limiting. Thus, the present invention is to be accorded the widest scope encompassing numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents consistent with the principles and features disclosed. For purpose of clarity, details relating to technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

In the description and claims of the application, each of the words “comprise” “include” and “have”, and forms thereof, are not necessarily limited to members in a list with which the words may be associated. It should be noted herein that any feature or component described in association with a specific embodiment may be used and implemented with any other embodiment unless clearly indicated otherwise.

It should be appreciated that the term ‘module’ refers to computer logic utilized to provide a desired functionality, service or operation. In various embodiments, a module can be implemented in hardware, firmware and/or software controlling a general purpose processor. In one embodiment, the modules are programmatic codes or computer executable instructions stored on a storage system, such as the game database system, and executed by a processor.

As used herein, the indefinite articles “a” and “an” mean “at least one” or “one or more” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The term “plurality of programmatically separate video games” means more than one video game where each of the video games comprises one or more separate executable files and can be fully played and engaged with independent of any other video game. The disclosed inventions are directed to an improvement in computer-related technology, namely providing players with conditional access to virtual items. In particular, the present specification discloses specific teachings regarding how players may be provided with conditional access to virtual items among other teachings. Accordingly, Applicant's claimed inventions do not preempt all approaches to managing the relations between parties and, instead, are directed to an improvement in video gaming technology grounded firmly in a specific way of achieving the desired outcome of allowing conditional access to the players of a video game of an in-game virtual item.

To the extent the claimed inventions are still considered to be “abstract” in nature, it should be appreciated that each of the claim limitations, when viewed as an ordered combination, amount to significantly more than just an abstract idea or concept. The methods and systems of the present invention represent technical improvements to a form of computer technology, video games, by providing a specialized computer system configured to host a plurality of concurrently executing video game streaming applications (for example, anywhere from at least 10 video game streaming applications to at least 100,000,000 video game streaming applications or any increment therein), host a plurality of client devices associated with remotely located players (for example, anywhere from at least 10 client devices associated with players to at least 100,000,000 client devices associated with players, or any increment therein), and perform a series of programmatic steps designed to generate electronic user interfaces that present a plurality of scenarios for providing players with conditional access to virtual items.

The presently disclosed embodiments are directed to methods for providing conditional access to a virtual gaming item that is allocated to a first player of a video game, wherein the video game represents one of a plurality of different instances of video game applications which are concurrently hosted by at least one server and wherein the plurality of different instances are greater than 10, as disclosed above.

FIG. 1 illustrates a gaming system 100 in which a method of making virtual items conditionally available to players may be implemented, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. The system 100 comprises a client-server architecture, where one or more game servers 105 are in communication with one or more remotely located client devices 110 over a network 115. Users may access the system 100 via the client devices 110 that may include, but not be limited to, personal or desktop computers, laptops, Netbooks, handheld devices such as smartphones, tablets, and PDAs, gaming consoles and/or any other computing platform known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. Although three client devices 110 are illustrated in FIG. 1, any number of client devices 110 can be in communication with the one or more game servers 105 over the network 115. The game server 105 is responsible for hosting, running, or executing a video game, and the remotely located client devices 110 are configured to execute an instance of the video game.

The video game may be from any video game genre. Video game genres include 1) action games, such as platform, shooter, fighting, stealth, survival, and rhythm games, 2) action-adventure games, such as survival horror or metroidvania games, 3) adventure games, such as text, graphic, visual, interactive or real-time 3D adventures, 4) role-playing games, such as action RPG, MMORPG, Roguelikes, tactical RPG, sandbox RPG, first-person party-based RPG, cultural differences, choices, or fantasy games, 5) simulation games, construction and management simulation, life simulation, or vehicle simulation games, 6) strategy games, such as 4X, artillery, real-time strategy, real-time tactics, multiplayer online baffle arena, tower defense, turn based strategy, turn based tactics, wargame, or grand strategy games, 7) sports games, such as racing, competitive, basketball, football, baseball, soccer, hockey, or sports-based fighting, or 8) the following other genres: MMO, casual, party, programming, logic, trivia, board, card, advergame, art, or educational.

The one or more game servers 105 can be any computing device having one or more processors and one or more computer-readable storage media such as RAM, hard disk or any other optical or magnetic media. The one or more game servers 105 include a plurality of hardware, software, and/or firmware components operating together to provide or implement a plurality of functional, operational or service-oriented modules. In some embodiments, the one or more game servers 105 include or are in communication with a game database 120. In one embodiment, each game server is associated with a separate game database system. In another embodiment, a common database may serve two or more game servers. The game database 120 stores a plurality of game data associated with one or more games that are served or provided to the client devices 110 over the network 115. In one embodiment, the game database system 120 a plurality of databases, each storing a different kind of data. In some embodiments, the one or more game servers 105 may be implemented by a cloud of computing platforms operating together as game servers. In embodiments, a game server is another home console, a personal computing device, such as a laptop or tablet PC, or a dedicated server.

In an embodiment, the game server 105 comprises a conditional access module 125 which is coupled to and in communication with the database 120. The conditional access module 125 is configured 1) to cause a set of predefined virtual in-game items associated with a first set of one or more players to be conditionally available to, and therefore shareable with, a second set of one or more players based upon the fulfillment of one or more predefined conditions or “triggers”, 2) if a virtual in-game item is made conditionally accessible, to broadcast or generally notify the second set of one or more players of the potential availability of the virtual in-game item, 3) to receive, track and enforce rules for actually conditionally sharing a specific in-game item with at least one of the second set of one or more players, 4) based upon actions taken by the at least one of the second set of one or more players, conditionally sharing the virtual in-game item with that player and modifying the associated data structures accordingly, and 5) after the conditions associated with access of the virtual in-game item terminates, causing the virtual in-game item to no longer be accessible to that player and modifying the associated data structures accordingly.

In some embodiments, predefined conditions may need to be fulfilled before an item may be made available for conditional access. In some embodiments, the predefined conditions for conditional access are determined by the system on a per game basis and stored in a data structure. In embodiments, conditional accessibility to a virtual item may not be enabled until a certain percentage of the item has been obtained by the total player population playing the video game. For example, an owner of a first item may not be allowed to make the item available for conditional access until a predefined percentage of the item has been spawned by the game and collected by the player population. In other examples, conditional accessibility of a virtual item to a second player may not be enabled unless the item has a predefined rarity level. In other embodiments, accessibility to a virtual item may only be enabled during promotional periods, such as a holiday. In some embodiments, the predetermined conditions for conditional access may include player attributes. For example, conditional access to a virtual item may not be enabled unless: a) a second player has attained a particular experience level; b) a second player has a predefined number of points/treasure; or c) a second player has or does not have a related item. In some embodiments, the predefined conditions for access are determined by the owner of the item. In an embodiment the owner is enabled to define the conditions that must be fulfilled by players seeking access to the item. Such conditions may be, but are not limited to, said players having cleared predefined levels of the game, said players being first time players, said players having certain characteristics predefined as preferable by the owner, and other such conditions as deemed fit by the owner. In various embodiments, the owner may be allowed to define conditions for accessing the item, either additionally or alternatively to developer-specified conditions. In other embodiments, multiple other conditions may be predefined, which are required to be fulfilled before an item may be made available for access.

In an embodiment, the owner of the item is incentivized for sharing the item with other players. In embodiments, the incentives may include additional game points, enhancements for the in-game experience or other in-game benefits. In embodiments, the person who conditionally accesses the item may earn experience points for accessing or using the item. It should be noted that access conditions may increase the value and desirability of the items, thus incentivizing player engagement and enhancing the entertainment value for the players trying to obtain access to said items.

In an embodiment, the database 120 stores a data structure such as, but not limited to, a table comprising a list of in-game virtual items available for sharing along with the corresponding owners of said items. The data structure may also comprise a time duration for which each of said items may be made available to other players and a corresponding condition which is required to be fulfilled before said item may be made available. In various embodiments, the conditional access module 125 manages the database and updates the inventories of the owner of a virtual item as well as the player to whom the virtual item has been made conditionally available. In various embodiments, each virtual item has a unique product identification code (ID) and each player has a unique gamer ID. When the item is owned by a player, the item's product ID is added to the player's gamer ID. In an embodiment, the conditional access module 125 removes the item's ID from an owner's gamer ID when conditional access to said item is provided to a second player, adds the item's product ID to the second player's gamer ID for a predefined period of time; and upon expiration of said time automatically transfers the item's ID back to the owner's gamer ID. This enables seamless tracking of the virtual item. In an embodiment, each virtual item may also have, associated with it, player reward amounts and the costs associated with conditional access.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary tabular data structure for recording ownership of in-game virtual items, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. Table 200 comprises a column 202 for storing metadata or identification codes (IDs) of virtual items, a column 204 for storing corresponding attributes of said items, a column 206 for storing IDs of corresponding owners of the virtual items, a column 208 for storing availability triggers/conditions or a field for encoding availability options corresponding to the items upon fulfillment of which said items may be temporarily used by other players, a column 210 for storing IDs of players temporarily allowed to access the virtual items upon fulfillment of trigger conditions, and a column 212 for storing time durations for which each of said items may be temporarily accessed. It would be apparent that table 200 is just one way of storing the information relating to the virtual items and their accessibility. In an embodiment, table 200 also comprises a column (not shown in FIG. 2) to store an incentive/reward given to an owner for sharing an item with other players, corresponding to each virtual item stored in column 202. In various embodiments various other data structures may be used to record said information. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, conditional access module 125 of server 105 is coupled with table 200 stored in database 120, and manages providing conditional accessibility of the stored virtual items to players.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of making an in-game virtual item in a video game conditionally available to players of the game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. At step 302, a database of virtual items, owned by at least one first player, that are conditionally accessible to at least one second player is generated, wherein the accessibility is determined based on at least one predefined condition, as described above. In embodiments, virtual items are only shown to those second players that qualify to conditionally access the item.

At step 304, an attribute of an in-game virtual item owned by a first player is modified in order to make other players of a video game aware that said item may be made conditionally available to one or more of said players for a predefined period of time. In embodiments, a color of said item may be changed to a predefined color, or said item made be made to glow or a predefined mark may be clipped on to the item, or special effects (SFX), visual special effects, particle effects may be added to the item. In an embodiment, attributes of the item which affect the attributes of the in-game player character and/or the in-game player character weapons and other ways to earn experience/points within the game by using the item may also be highlighted/advertised. In other embodiments, the owner of the item may make announcements or advertisements to inform other players of the conditional availability of the item. In embodiments a descriptor advertising item availability along with predefined fulfillment condition(s) may be added to the items description. In an embodiment, said item may be marked as available for a predefined period of time in an inventory of the player owning the item. In other embodiment, said item may be added to a list of items available for conditional use, wherein the list can be accessed by all the players of the video game.

At step 306, at least one second player fulfills at least one access condition in order to trigger or enable their access and obtain said item for said period of time. In some embodiments an access condition may comprise, but is not limited to, payment of an amount of money/in-game currency in order to obtain the item for a predefined period of time. In an embodiment, the amount of money is established by the game developer. In an embodiment, the amount of money may be set by the owner of the virtual item, who may provide limited time offers as well as other advanced pricing options for accessing the item. In some embodiments, the amount of money that is charged for a virtual item is system-controlled via in-game menus for price-setting and placing said items in a marketplace. In some embodiments, the marketplace may be part of the outside game world. In some embodiments, the marketplace may be an in-game feature and part of the virtual world, such as a virtual merchant's shop. In an embodiment, the system may provide an environment for setting up an auction for accessing the item, when the item is coveted by more than one players; wherein a minimum bid, a reserve price, and a buyout price may be predefined by the system or dynamically controlled by the owner.

At step 308, the item is made accessible to the one or more players that have fulfilled said conditions for the predefined period of time. In an embodiment, during said period the item is not available for use to the first player (owner of said item). When the item is owned by a player, the item's product ID is coupled with the player's gamer ID. In an embodiment, when conditional access to said item is provided to a second player, the item's ID is removed from the owner's gamer ID and is coupled with the second player's gamer ID for the predefined period of time. Upon expiration of the predefined period of time, the item's ID is automatically transferred back to the owner's gamer ID.

At step 310, the inventories of the first player and said one or more players are modified to reflect said accessibility of the item for the limited time duration. In embodiments, a player's inventory items are stored in a database structure and linked to the player's profile via a reference embedded in an associated cell. In embodiments, changes are made in said inventory data structure of the first player to indicate that the item is no longer available for use by the first player. In embodiments, changes are made in the inventory data structure of the second player to whom the item has been made accessible indicating that the item is possessed by the second player for the predefined time period.

At step 312, it is determined if the time period has elapsed, and if the time has not elapsed the game proceeds as before at step 316. In an embodiment, a first current time when the one or more players are provided access to the item is recorded and is continuously compared with a current time to determine if the predefined period has elapsed. Lapse of the predefined period occurs when a difference between a current time and the recorded first current time becomes equal to the predefined period of time. In one embodiment, the determination of the elapsed time period is effectuated by using a system countdown timer tied with the item's product ID. In various embodiments, the system countdown timer is based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

At step 313, if said time period has elapsed, the accessibility of the item is withdrawn from the one or more players. At step 314 the inventories of the first player and said one or more players are modified to reflect said withdrawn accessibility.

In an embodiment, the method of providing conditional access to virtual items may be implemented by using a block chain technique. In an embodiment, when a conditional access to an item is provided to a player, the event is published to a ledger via block chain technology so that said event is available to all the players of the game. In an embodiment, instead of storing the events in a centralized backend server, said events are stored on a distributed ledger system. FIG. 3B is another flowchart illustrating the steps of making an in-game virtual item in a video game conditionally available to players of the game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. At step 320, a video game developer (i.e. the entity responsible for managing the game servers, gaming code, and other technologies required to actually operate the game on-line), sets one or more attributes of each in-game virtual item. These attributes may be modified by the developer to either make each item shareable or non-shareable. In an embodiment, an owner of the item may be enabled to modify one or more predefined attributes of the item based upon predefined conditions defined by the developer.

At step 322 it is determined if a virtual item possesses an attribute that can be modified to make the item shareable. At step 324 if the item possesses an attribute that can be modified to make the item shareable, it is determined if said attribute has been modified to make the item shareable. At step 326 if the attribute has been modified to make the item shareable, players of the video game are notified that the item is available for conditional access. At step 328, an owner of the item is prompted to set rules/triggers upon fulfillment of which, said item would be accessible by a player fulfilling the conditions, for a predefined period of time. At step 330 it is determined if a player of the game fulfills the conditions set by the owner of the virtual item. At step 332, if the conditions are fulfilled by the player, the item is made available to the player for use for the predefined period of time. At step 334, it is determined if the duration for which the item is in the possession of the player is equal to the predefined time period. At step 336, if the duration is equal to the predefined time period, accessibility to the item by the player is terminated and possession of the item is returned to the owner. Each step of FIG. 3B is explained in detail with respect to FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A and 8B.

FIG. 4A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of designating one or more attributes of an in-game item that may be modified for causing the item to be conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. In various embodiments, at step 402 a video game developer (i.e. the entity responsible for managing the game servers, gaming code, and other technologies required to actually operate the game on-line), sets one or more attributes of each in-game virtual item. In embodiments, the attributes may be modifiable to enable said item to become conditionally accessible to other players in the game. In other embodiments, the attributes may be modifiable by an owner of the item in the game to enable said item to become conditionally accessible to other players in the game. In various embodiments, these attributes are not player specific and apply generally to the in-game item itself. At step 404, the developer modifies one or more of said designated attributes to make the item conditionally available or accessible to players other than the owner of the virtual item. For example, for a virtual weapon being used in the game, one or more attributes may be designated by the game developer as modifiable to make the weapon conditionally available to other players. The developer of the weapon can make that weapon shareable, by modifying the one or more attributes such as, but not limited to, shareable on an upcoming weekend, shareable if the owner has passed a particular level, etc. In an embodiment, a color of said item may be changed to a predefined color, or said item made be made to glow or a predefined mark may be clipped on to the item. In embodiments a descriptor attribute of an item advertising item availability along with predefined fulfillment condition(s) may be designated as modifiable by the developer. In an embodiment, said item may be marked as shareable for a predefined period of time in an inventory of the player owning the item.

FIG. 4B is an exemplary GUI for setting one or more attributes of an in-game item for causing the item to be conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. As shown a developer of a virtual item such as a particular weapon ‘X’ may be prompted to make the weapon shareable at 410, and may set attributes of the weapon defining the conditions and time period for conditional accessibility of the weapon. If the developer selects ‘yes’ at 410, the developer is prompted to set attributes at 420. In the example shown in FIG. 4B, the developer may set a qualification 422 of an accessing player such as for example, that the weapon would be temporarily accessible to other players only after the players have reached a predefined game level, and a minimum (and in some embodiments, a maximum) amount 424 which must be paid by an accessing player. The developer may also modify an attribute to set a minimum (and in some embodiments, a maximum) time period for which the weapon would be shareable at 426.

FIG. 4C illustrates an exemplary tabular data structure for recording attributes of in-game virtual items, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. Table 400 comprises a column 430 for storing metadata or identification codes (IDs) of virtual items, a column 432 for storing corresponding attributes of said items such as but not limited to: a time of availability of the item for sharing, a color change of the item showing that it is temporarily accessible, a change in the descriptor of the item showing that it is temporarily accessible, an amount of money payable for gaining access to the item, and a reward/incentive available to the owner of the item upon making the item conditionally accessible to other players.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of notifying the players of a video game that an in-game virtual item is conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. At step 502, it is determined if an in-game virtual item of a video game has been designated for sharing by a developer of the game. At step 504, if the item has been designated for sharing, the owner of the item is notified. In an embodiment, the owner is also notified of the one or more attributes of the item making it shareable with other players at step 506. For, example, if the item may be made conditionally available to other players only on weekends, the owner may be reminded via messages/pop-ups when a weekend arrives. The owner, as described with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B, may set up rules/triggers for allowing conditional access to the players of a video game of an in-game virtual item. Once this is done, at step 508, the players of the game are notified that the item is available for conditional access. For example, a color of said item may be changed to a predefined color, or said item made be made to glow or a predefined mark may be clipped onto the item. In other embodiments, the owner of the item may make announcements or advertisements to inform other players of the conditional availability of the item. In some embodiments a descriptor advertising item availability along with predefined fulfillment condition(s) may be added to the items description. In other embodiments, said item may be added to a list of items available for conditional use, wherein the list can be accessed by all the players of the video game.

FIG. 5B is an exemplary GUI for notifying the players of a video game that at least one in-game virtual item is conditionally accessible, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. As shown in screenshot 500 a pop-up message 520 informs the players that a weapon ‘X’ is now available.

FIG. 6A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of setting up rules/triggers for allowing conditional access to the players of a video game of an in-game virtual item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. At step 602 it is determined if an in-game virtual item owned by a first player of a video game is available for sharing. At step 604 if the item is available for sharing, it is determined if one or more attributes for sharing the item have been set by the developer of the game. In various embodiments, the developer may establish one or more prerequisites (as described above) for gaining conditional access to a virtual item. For example, a particular in game weapon may only be accessed by players who have achieved a particular level of the game. Other pre-conditions may comprise a minimum pre-defined amount of virtual money that must be paid to the owner for accessing the item or a predefined time minimum period for which the item may be accessed by the players. At step 606 if one or more attributes for sharing the item have been established by the developer of the game, it is determined if one or more conditions/rules/triggers may be set by the owner for sharing the item. At step 608, if one or more conditions/rules/triggers may be set by the owner for sharing the item, the owner may set one or more conditions. For example, the owner may set the amount of money payable for gaining access to the item, or set the time period for which the item would be accessible. The owner may also set desired pre-qualifications of players who would be granted temporary access to the item. At step 610, the other players of the game who show an interest in gaining access to said item are notified of the prerequisite conditions.

FIG. 6B is an exemplary GUI for setting up rules for providing conditional access to an in-game virtual item by the owner of the item in a video game, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. As shown in screenshot 600, at 620, 630 and 640 the owner can define a minimum game level reached by players who can be granted access, an amount of money payable for gaining access, and a time period for which the item would be accessible for said amount of money to the players who have reached said gaming level. In an embodiment, the owner may decline a request for making an item conditionally accessible to other players a predefined number of times. In another embodiment, the owner of the item may modify one or more predefined attributes of the item based upon predefined conditions defined by the developer of the game.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of allowing access to an in-game virtual item to one or more players upon fulfillment of one or more predefined conditions, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. In embodiments, once players are notified of the availability of an item for conditional access such as described above, one or more players may request access to the item from the owner. At step 702, it is determined if a player has requested conditional access to a virtual in-game item. The request may be made via an in-game chat window, via a broadcast message or via personal message to the owner or any other suitable method. At step 704 upon receiving a request for the item, it is determined by the owner if the requesting player fulfills the predefined conditions for accessibility. Some of said conditions have been described above with reference to FIG. 6A. If it is determined that the requesting player has fulfilled said conditions, then at step 706, access to the item may granted to the requesting player for a predefined period of time. At step 708, the item is removed from the gaming inventory of the owner and added to the gaming inventory of the requesting player for the predefined period of time. At step 710, if the conditions are not fulfilled by the requesting player, access to the item is denied.

FIG. 7B is an exemplary GUI showing that an in-game item is accessible to a player of a video game who is not the owner of said item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. As shown in screen shot 700, a notification 702 that a weapon ‘X’ is usable by a player ‘Y’ for a predefined time period such as ‘24 hours’ is displayed to the players of the video game.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart illustrating the steps of terminating access to an in-game item after the expiry of a predefined period, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. At step 802 it is determined how much time has elapsed since access to an in-game virtual item was granted to a player. At step 804 the elapsed time is compared to a predefined time period. At step 806 it is determined if the elapsed time period is equal to the predefined time period. At step 808, if the elapsed time period is equal to the predefined time period, access to the item is terminated. At step 810 the item is removed from the gaming inventory of the player and added back to the gaming inventory of the owner of the item.

FIG. 8B is an exemplary GUI showing that access to an in-game item is terminated for a player of a video game who is not the owner of said item, in accordance with an embodiment of the present specification. As shown in screen shot 800, a notification 802 that a time period for accessing weapon ‘X’ by a player ‘Y’ has elapsed is displayed to the players of the video game. The above examples are merely illustrative of the many applications of the system and method of present specification. Although only a few embodiments of the present specification have been described herein, it should be understood that the present specification might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the specification. Therefore, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the specification may be modified within the scope of the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. A method for providing conditional access to a virtual gaming item that is allocated to a first player of a video game, wherein the video game provides conditional access to the virtual gaming item to a second player, the method comprising: generating a data set of conditionally accessible virtual video game items in a form of an electronically stored data structure, wherein the conditionally accessible virtual video game items include the virtual gaming item; using the data structure, logically associating at least one predefined condition with each of the virtual video game items; generating a plurality of graphical user interfaces in the video game, wherein at least one of the plurality of graphical user interfaces is configured to prompt for, and receive, data representative of one or more attributes of each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items and wherein the one or more attributes are at least indicative of one or more predefined periods of time for which each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items is conditionally accessible; monitoring data generated by an execution of the video game to determine if the at least one predefined condition for the virtual gaming item is met by the second player; based on data generated by the execution of the video game and representative of the at least one predefined condition being met by the second player, at least temporarily providing access to the virtual gaming item to the second player within the video game and at least temporarily denying access to virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game; and after the one or more predefined periods of time elapses, providing access to the virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game and denying access to the second player within the video game.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the first player that the virtual item is being made accessible to the second player for the one or more predefined periods of time.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record said conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item and a first time.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising determining if the one or more predefined periods of time has elapsed by acquiring a current time, determining a difference between the current time and the first time, and terminating conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item for the second player if the difference is equal to or greater than the one or more predefined periods of time.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising modifying the at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record the termination of the conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a graphical user interface to notify at least the second player that the virtual gaming item is conditionally available upon fulfillment of the at least one predefined condition.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes further comprises at least one of a color of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items or a descriptor of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one predefined condition comprises a transfer of a predefined amount of virtual value to the first player by the second player.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one predefined condition comprises reaching a predefined gaming level by the second player.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if a predefined percentage of a total number of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items has been obtained by a total player population playing the video game before enabling the virtual gaming item to be conditionally accessible.
 11. A computer readable non-transitory medium comprising a plurality of executable programmatic instructions wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, conditional access to a virtual gaming item that is allocated to a first player of a video game is provided to a second player in a multi-player video gaming network, said multi-player video gaming network comprising at least one game server in data communication with client devices of the first player and the second player and wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game: generates a data set of conditionally accessible virtual video game items in a form of an electronically stored data structure, wherein the conditionally accessible virtual video game items include the virtual gaming item; logically associates at least one predefined condition with each of the virtual video game items in the data structure; generates a plurality of graphical user interfaces, wherein at least one of the plurality of graphical user interfaces is configured to prompt for, and receive, data representative of one or more attributes of each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items and wherein the one or more attributes are at least indicative of one or more predefined periods of time for which each of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items is conditionally accessible; monitor data generated by an execution of the video game to determine if the at least one predefined condition for the virtual gaming item is met by the second player; based on data generated by the execution of the video game and representative of the at least one predefined condition being met by the second player, at least temporarily provide access to the virtual gaming item to the second player within the video game and at least temporarily deny access to virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game; and after the one or more predefined periods of time elapses, provide access to the virtual gaming item to the first player within the video game and deny access to the second player within the video game.
 12. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further notifies the first player that the virtual item is being made accessible to the second player for the one or more predefined periods of time.
 13. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further modifies at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record said conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item and a first time.
 14. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 13, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further determines if the one or more predefined periods of time has elapsed by acquiring a current time, determining a difference between the current time and the first time, and terminating conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item for the second player if the difference is equal to or greater than the one or more predefined periods of time.
 15. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 14, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further modifies the at least one data structure associated with each of the first player, the second player, and the virtual gaming item to record the termination of the conditional accessibility to the virtual gaming item.
 16. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further generates a graphical user interface to notify at least the second player that the virtual gaming item is conditionally available upon fulfillment of the at least one predefined condition.
 17. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more attributes further comprises at least one of a color of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items or a descriptor of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items.
 18. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one predefined condition comprises a transfer of a predefined amount of virtual value to the first player by the second player.
 19. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one predefined condition comprises reaching a predefined gaming level by the second player.
 20. The computer readable non-transitory medium of claim 11, wherein, when said plurality of executable programmatic instructions are executed by a processor, the video game further determines if a predefined percentage of a total number of the conditionally accessible virtual video game items has been obtained by a total player population playing the video game before enabling the virtual gaming item to be conditionally accessible. 